November 15, 2024 • 25 mins
This episode of the Wands and Wishes podcast dives into the enchanting Christmas transformation of Disney parks, highlighting what guests can expect during the holiday season. Tony and Lauren discuss the remarkable speed at which the parks shift from Halloween decor to festive Christmas cheer, creating a magical atmosphere overnight. They share personal experiences of attending both Halloween and Christmas events, emphasizing the unique offerings and vibrant decorations that make each park special during this time. Listeners will also gain insights into the various holiday events, including Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and the new Jollywood Nights at Hollywood Studios. With tips on navigating the crowds, enjoying character meet-and-greets, and savoring holiday treats, this episode is a must-listen for anyone planning a Disney vacation during the holidays.
Takeaways:
- Disney parks undergo a magical transformation from Halloween to Christmas overnight, creating a festive atmosphere.
- During the Christmas season, each park has unique decorations and music, enhancing the holiday experience.
- Attending both Halloween and Christmas events in one trip provides a unique opportunity for guests.
- Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party offers unique character meet-and-greets and festive treats throughout the event.
- The Candlelight Processional at Epcot features famous narrators, adding a special touch to the holiday celebration.
- Resort hopping during the holiday season allows guests to experience the unique decorations at each Disney resort.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
It's another episode of theWands and Wishes podcast.
Thank you for joining us as weget you prepared for your Disney
vacation.
And Lauren Mallard, of all themagic travel, I have to say I think
this is one of my favorite episodes.
I kind of been waiting to dothis episode on the Christmas transformation
of the Disney parks and whatpeople can expect, whether they're
going to one of the partiesthat are in the park or whether they're
(00:26):
just going to the parks ingeneral and experiencing the holidays.
Because it is remarkable howquickly the parks turn around from
Halloween and fall to gettingright into the Christmas spirit magically
overnight.
That's right.
I did see a documentary onthis and it's, it's fun because I
tend to think of decoratinglike in my house, which is like utter
chaos.
Like when my wife, she's like,put that over there.
(00:48):
No, let's put that over here.
No, let's move this.
No, let's take that down.
No, put that back up.
And then I think and I watchedthis documentary about how they transfer
the parks.
It's like an army of peopleand they know exactly what to do.
They're like, you're Susan andyou're going to take down wreath
1, 2, 5, 7 and 9.
Right.
Billy, you're going to put upthis, this, this and this.
And then we're going to moveover here and you're going to do
(01:10):
this, this, this and this.
And it's just like a wellorchestrated machine.
I would love to sit on a benchin the Magic Kingdom that night and
just have a coffee and justsit there all night long and just
watch it happen.
Right.
You have to think that they'recounting the minutes.
Oh yeah.
What they've got untildaylight when guests are going to
(01:31):
start arriving again.
And it's got to be completely transformed.
Like if we're starting at thistime, you better be at Station 2
at this time ready to do thesecond round of what we're doing.
Otherwise we, we won't make iton time.
Yeah, there was one year I wasthere and they had the November 1st,
not so scary Halloween party.
And we went to that one and itwas interesting because we went the
(01:52):
Halloween party on November1st and then we went back to Magic
Kingdom on November 2nd and itreally is.
That's great.
It's Christmas the next morning.
That's crazy great.
What is what I would totallyurge people to do that experience.
If you can do it.
Super cool.
If you be there the Halloweenweek where you can find a way to
see Both things in one stay.
(02:12):
It's like the epitome ofgetting the most bang for your buck.
Completely.
Completely.
I will stick by what I saidduring our Halloween episode of the
two parties.
I like the not so scary betterand I think a lot of it is.
What I said in that podcastwas I think Disney has the IP to
pull off Halloween look.
It's cute that Winnie the Poohand Mickey Mouse are in Santa outfits.
(02:34):
Anybody with IP can do that.
Right.
But Disney has the villainaspect that can make Halloween a
lot different and a lot better.
But nevertheless, theirHalloween party is very, very festive.
So we're going to talk about that.
We're going to talk aboutJollywood Nights that goes on at
Hollywood Studios, otherthings that you can do around the
resort without going to parks for.
For Christmas.
So the very holiday edition ofthe Wands and Wishes podcast.
(02:57):
Yeah.
So let's start with the parksin general.
Right.
Like we talked about earlier,the transformations are going to
happen very quickly.
And they're already up now asthey're already in the party mode
and the Halloween.
And up from Halloween into Christmas.
But it, it is one of the bestthings that they do in getting people
prepared for the holidays isgiving you that nostalgic sort of
feel of the Christmas timeswith decorations in every single
(03:20):
one of the parks.
Yeah.
And you'll notice that everyone of the parks has a.
And it has a different, evengoing down to the background loops
of the music that you'rehearing in the parks, you're going
to have something at MagicKingdom that's going to feel like
Magic Kingdom.
And then over at HollywoodStudios, you're going to have a little
more retro vibe to that.
So all the decorations inHollywood Studios, they have that
(03:40):
retro, bigger colored bulbs.
And then the music is going tofeel a little more retro.
So you're going to see thatchange from park to park.
So you're never getting thesame thing no matter what park you're
in.
And they've got some ridesthat have changed that will change
for the holidays.
Jungle Cruise change changes.
There's a Christmas overlay atSpace Mountain.
So there is some otherelements other than we just stuck
(04:02):
a tree up at the beginning andsome festival lights and some festival
reads.
They really are totally inintegrating the holiday into almost
every aspect of the park.
Yes.
And it really, truly is.
It's just.
It feels so different to bethere at Christmas time because it
really is so magical.
And when you're stepping inand you're seeing all the different
(04:24):
decorations and Even myself,who I don't even call myself a Christmas
fanatic.
But when I'm at Disney World,it immediately just becomes more
festive.
Yeah.
So there's a couple of nightsthat the Mickey's not so not from
not so Scary going into the holiday.
The, the very specialChristmas party that they have.
And they're, they're, they'resimilar in tips and as we get into
(04:45):
both of those, if you rememberthe Halloween edition, we gave you
tips on what to do when youget there, what's popular, how to
sort of navigate that.
Some of the tips from Mickey'snot so Scary go into the Christmas
party.
Absolutely.
Very paralleled because theyhave a lot of the same events at
each party.
So you're going to have aheadlining fireworks show, you're
going to have the paradethat's not to miss at Mickey's, not,
(05:05):
I'm sorry, a very merryChristmas party that's not to miss.
You're going to have a stageshow, you're going to have those
unique character meet and greets.
So all those tips that we gaveyou at Halloween are going to really
work well if you're visitingthe Christmas party too.
The number one tip is getthere on early.
You can get there at 4 o'clockif you have just a ticket for that
event.
Event.
If you're already in the themepark, that's fine, you're good.
(05:28):
But if you are going to justthis event specifically, you can
get in at 4 o'clock.
I always tell people get thereat 3 and just wait in the line.
Just chill out.
You can you, you'll be, youknow, just have something to do while
you wait because the crowds doreally get big as, as they get closer
to let you into this party andthey'll navigate you around the back
end of Main street to sort ofintegrate yourself into the park
(05:50):
while they're getting peopleout of the park before the party
actually starts at seven.
So there's this three hourbuffer where the park is going to
be really loaded with peoplefrom the regular park guests to the
people that are arriving forthe party.
But you do get those threehours as part of your party ticket.
Right.
And another thing when you'rementioning crowds here is I think
sometimes people have themisconception that if they have a
(06:12):
party ticket it's going tofeel empty.
Right.
It is not going to besomething like the after hours events
that really do feel empty orsome of those types of events that
are really more of anexclusive, exclusive type of an event.
The Christmas Party and theHalloween party used to feel more
so that way.
But now I feel that they areselling more tickets and really it's
(06:33):
just you're paying a premiumfor some of the offerings that they're
giving you at this party.
That's a really good pointbecause a lot of times, and we noticed
this on our last trip when wewent to the not so scary Halloween
party was that there, thereare times where Disney is struggling
just to fill the park duringthe day.
But they're not struggling tosell these.
No, absolutely not.
(06:54):
Selling these out.
So you can go like we didwhere we went for four days and we
can go to Animal Kingdom andfeel like we had the park to ourselves
or Hollywood Studios and feellike it's kind of dead.
But then we got to the partyand then we know, oh, this is a sold
out event.
And it's feeling like a soldout event.
So I tell people a lot oftimes this is not the way to experience
(07:14):
Disney World.
This is, this is to experiencewhat they're offering special to
Disney.
The additional offerings atthat party are what's going to be
most important and for thevalue of what you're paying for.
For that ticket.
Right?
Exact.
And again, ride the rides.
It's great.
A lot of them will have alittle bit less time than a busy,
busy Saturday in the summertime.
(07:34):
Sure.
But really enjoy the shows,enjoy the meet and greets, enjoy
the things that you don'tnormally get to do.
Because that's what makesthese parties and these two in particular,
Halloween and Christmas, veryunique and very special.
Definitely.
And also you can get cookies,hot chocolate, cider, eggnog.
That's right.
Different locations like youcan when you do the Halloween trick
(07:54):
or treating.
That's right.
So instead of trick ortreating, there's a different cookie
at each station that's youdon't have to get all of them or
you don't have to eat all ofevery one of them, but you can certainly
try each one of them and seewhat you like and what you don't
like and that is included,those cookies are included.
There are additional treatslike what we talked about with the
Halloween party that you canpay extra for.
So if you see something that'soffered that is not one of these
(08:18):
included cookies, you cancertainly pay for that too.
We went last year to theChristmas party and there's a story
reason behind it because wewent in 2016 and my wife Lori got
very sick and she wasn't sickup until the, like towards the end
of the Night.
So we went to.
We were hanging around theparks, and then we went over there
for the party, and she startednot feeling well.
(08:40):
And this was eight years ago.
It was actually electionnight, which was really wild.
Oh, no.
Yeah, it was.
It was election night.
And, you know, when you go toDisney World, you sort of escape
the real world.
Yes.
But everyone was, like, ontheir phone and, like, on Twitter,
and then you could hear peopletalking about who won Pennsylvania
and what was going on.
So it was election night andshe just felt miserable.
She said, I'm out.
She goes, take the kids on the rides.
(09:01):
I want to sit here.
I don't want to go anywhere.
She didn't want to eat any cookies.
She was feeling miserable.
But she was a trooper in that.
Let's get the kids the experience.
I don't want to be a problem.
I don't want to leave early.
Let me just sit here.
So I remember telling her,well, you never really got to feel
this.
Like, you never got to reallyenjoy this.
So we, eventually, we've gotto do this again.
And then last year we went todo it again.
(09:22):
Oh, that's awesome.
So that was.
That was.
That was great.
But this time we didn't havethe kids.
This.
It was just full circle.
Exactly.
So it's full circle.
And again, one of the.
One of the criticisms, but yetit's hard criticism, but yet you
can understand why they do it,is that the party doesn't really
change.
No.
And there's.
There's sort of a two campfeel to this.
(09:43):
Right.
If you're Disney and it'sworking, why change up?
Yeah.
Right.
If you're selling out, whychange thing?
This, this.
The system is simple.
We're having a party.
We've got characters.
You're getting cookie and hot chocolate.
We've got this parade.
You watch the parade, we'vegot the fireworks, got the stage
show.
We're good.
Yeah.
On the other hand, if you goconsistently, you might say, can
(10:04):
we do a different thing?
Is there something else?
But if you're Disney, whyinvest in the choreography of new
things if, again, these thingsare selling out very quickly?
But, you know, and it bringsmy mind to think, you know, you talk
about how every party is soldout, which, you know, it very well
does sell out every year.
And I think to myself, from amarketing standpoint, they could
(10:25):
almost offer this more nightsin the holiday season and pay and
charge more for it.
So if they're having moreparties but offering less tickets
but still charging more, thentheir bottom line is going to be
increased.
Yeah, that's right.
And so why not do that?
Make it feel more exclusive tothe guests.
(10:46):
But then you're still makingmore money off of it.
And then they can keep thingsthe same for some.
Or they could offer like atotally different variation on some
nights and then the classicone on another night.
Right, exactly.
And again, two parades.
This not to Miss Once Upon aChristmas Time parade.
I always tell people to try towatch the second one if weather permitting.
If you realize you're having anight where it's not going to rain,
(11:07):
try to get the second one.
It's an easier viewing.
But also, we talked about thison Halloween, Jack and Sally, they're
there at Christmas time.
Get in line for this.
Probably use your time that inthe very beginning to do this.
It may not be around late whenwe told this.
At Halloween, sometimesthey're gone and you'd think, like,
I'll catch it at 10:30 andthey're not there.
No.
Catch the characters early.
(11:28):
If you're.
If you're really looking for acharacter that you want to meet,
that's another one.
Just like with Halloween, yougot to do it early.
Get that knocked off yourlist, scratch it off and then move
on to the next thing.
And again, rides are available.
Some again have the overlaysand whatnot.
So it's.
It's again similar to what wewere talking about with Halloween.
You're getting a specialevent, you're getting a unique event
(11:49):
and manage it the way you wantto manage it.
If you love the rides and wantto do the rides, great.
If you're really in it for theshows, do it that way.
I always say you can do therides any day.
You can't do this party at anyother time.
So I always tell people, joythe party for what the party offers
and the special treats.
There is a second party that'sin its second season and that's the
Jollywood Nights event atHollywood Studios.
(12:11):
Now, I haven't done this yet.
I didn't do it last year, so I am.
I'm sort of new to it.
But I do remember it was notwell reviewed.
It really wasn't.
And I'm really, honestly alittle surprised that they brought
it back and also that theybrought it back in almost the same
form as last year, it seemslike from what I'm reading online.
But if you're not familiarwith what Jollywood Nights is, this
(12:32):
is over at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
And it really is more adultfocused, which I think is a really
good thing on Disney's.
I think so too.
Yeah.
I think that's pretty smartbecause they, they put it in the
right place.
I think Hollywood Studios isthe perfect park for this.
But I also wonder, you know,what, what, what market are we trying
(12:54):
to reach other than.
I'm not sure that it, that itreally encompasses the typical Disney
adult.
It's more glitz and glamour and.
Yeah.
You know, but it's.
I think it's a good concept.
I'm anxious to see how it doesin its second year compared to the
first.
Yeah, exactly.
Because the first one from.
People who reviewed it said itwas all over the place.
(13:14):
They didn't feel there was acohesion of the theme.
There was like, well, there'sa dance party over here and there's
kind of a show over here, andI don't really get a flow.
Right.
But it's, It's a little unfairto compare to something that even
though it's the same companythat has, I mean, the not so scary
and the very Merry Christmasparties have had years of development,
had years of processing complaints.
(13:36):
Oh, that didn't quite work.
Oh, maybe we should tightenthis up.
Maybe we should add more trickor treat lines.
Maybe we should add morecookie lines.
Yeah.
Like little things like that.
In the very beginning ofthese, they went through.
And even though it's the samecompany, you think you'd learn from
the mistakes, but you got toknow what mistakes you're making.
That's right.
In order to change them.
And I think they.
A lot of people just didn'tfeel like it was.
(13:56):
There was a unifying tie toeverything that they were doing.
Yeah, but I think you hit onsomething interesting because we,
my wife and I went to the.
An after hours event like twoyears ago, and I remember thinking
to myself as a Disney adult,yeah, this is a.
This is the better thing.
I wouldn't take a young childto an after hours event.
(14:17):
It's way too late.
Yeah, it's way too late.
But if you are somebody thatsays, I don't like these crowds,
I don't like these strollers,I just want to.
I go to the way to do it.
That's.
That is a way to really enjoythe park and feel like you have it
to yourself.
One of the things I heardabout Jollywood Nights was for whatever
reason, and maybe it justwasn't, people were making the choice
to do the Magic Kingdom park was.
(14:38):
It wasn't as busy as the other parks.
And if they.
I don't know if it's becausethey, you know, they're keeping it.
Let's try to sure.
Tighten it up.
See how it does.
See how it does.
But if you are, if you arechoosing between the two, and you've
kind of done the MagicKingdom, and I always recommend that.
Yeah.
Try Jollywood Nights, ifyou're an adult, to try to get a
little bit less of a crowd, alittle bit less of an atmosphere
(15:00):
that might work for you, ifindeed they've worked out some of
the bugs.
Yeah.
And if you're paying the sameamount for the ticket either way
and you get less crowds out ofit, then it's a win, win situation.
Yeah.
And I heard if you like theMuppets, there's a lot of Muppet
things.
I've heard that too.
And I really.
I would love to see morefootage of the whole party this year.
I wish I could get down forit, but that's not going to happen.
But.
But I really do want to see more.
(15:22):
I would love to see this growbecause I do think that there is,
there is space in every parkfor there to be something unique
to that park.
And I know we're going to talkabout Epcot next.
There's.
There's got to be somethingfor every park to be able to differentiate
in the holiday season.
Yeah.
And again, it's.
It.
I know it's a difficult timebecause you're talking about families
that are trying to figure outif I'm going to go to Disney and
(15:43):
I'm going to do one experienceat Christmas, if I'm doing one of
these after hours things,which one am I doing?
It would be hard to chooseJollywood Nights over, you know,
the very special Christmasparty, because it's.
That's the iconic one that'sgoing to fill you with a little bit
more nostalgia.
You're going to get the Snope,you know, on top of you, you know,
all that.
All that.
(16:03):
But let's go to Epcot center,because I think this is another one
that is, if you're an adultand really want to experience a different
way to look at the holidays.
Yeah, this is, this is one ofthe better ones, with festivities
from around the world.
Yeah, that's right.
So really, at Epcot, there's acouple different things that we can
focus on.
So you're going to be able togo through the World Showcase and
(16:25):
really experience what thesecountries, how they view Christmas
and how they view the holidaysand what, what they celebrate and
just be able to immerseyourself in that.
But, but aside from that alsoyou can experience different narrators
for the candlelightprocessional that happens every,
every few nights of the weekin the holiday season.
(16:47):
And they get big names for this.
There are narrators like NeilPatrick Harris and John Stamos and
Josh Gad, who's the voice of Olaf.
So this is a huge draw andsomething that if you take your family
to something like this and gettickets to this, then it's really
going to be a memory that theykeep for a long time because it is
(17:08):
such a spectacle to see.
Yeah, exactly.
And then there's differentkind of foods and whatnot.
It's there.
There is a whole different wayof doing it.
Different booths.
So again, they're not tryingto replicate the sim.
A similar thing.
In each, each one of theseparks, there is a distinct way they
want to celebrate Christmas.
And I don't want to say target audience.
It's kind of the wrong way to.
(17:28):
Do it to the personality ofthat park.
Right.
And so there's really just somuch to see and enjoy at Christmas
at Disney.
And there's a very whimsicallike way that the, the Christmas
party at Magic Kingdom is.
And then there's a little bitmore educational feel at Epcot.
Yeah.
And then there might be alittle bit more of an adult feel
at, at Hollywood Studios.
(17:49):
Right now there are some extrapackages that you can get if you
want to do the dessert partyon the terrace at Tomorrowland, watch
the fireworks, things like that.
They have those kind of thingsthat are available to you that are
even more than the ticket thatyou're, that you're paying for.
So there's a lot of differentways to enjoy these parks.
But let's say you are thereand you have a free day of non parks
and you want to enjoyChristmas around the resort without
(18:12):
having to buy an extra ticketto one of them.
You absolutely should do thisbecause this can take an entire day
if you hit all of the, of thethings that each resort has to offer.
Because especially in thedeluxe resorts, you're going to find
so many unique things.
Like at the Beach Club, theyhave a giant carousel that's Christmas
(18:33):
themed in the lobby.
At the Grand Floridian, mosteverybody knows about the life size
gym gingerbread house that'smade of real gingerbread.
And once it's constructed,they sell pieces of that gingerbread
straight from that gingerbreadhouse, which my kids decided they
wanted a piece of gingerbreadone year and they had no idea.
But they hate gingerbread.
(18:54):
Yeah.
And so I do too.
So there we are with the gingerbread.
And it wasn't.
They didn't like it, so.
But it's really neat to go seeit and see the trees in these places.
My favorite resort to visit atChristmas time is the Wilderness
Lodge, Right?
Yeah.
Very, very true.
It has this.
Their lob is so grand.
It's seven stories and thattree spans from the ground all the
(19:16):
way to the top.
And it is just absolutelygorgeous to see.
It is a underrated thing toresort hop.
It really is.
It really is.
A lot of people don't do it,but people who do do it, when they
have a free afternoon andthey're not dedicated any time to
whatever park they wanted togo to, it is a remarkable experience
to see how the decorations ineach resort and.
(19:36):
And how they put together the festivities.
Yeah.
And when you talk about, like,the personalities of the parks being
displayed with all thedifferent decorations in the parks,
the same can be said for the resorts.
So whatever the theming is ofeach resort, whether that's a value
moderate or deluxe resort,you're going to find their Christmas
decorations to match thetheming of the resort, which is really
cool.
(19:56):
We were talking earlier aboutcharacters and there is an opportunity
to get characters like, look,you might say already got Winnie
the Pooh, but now is a chanceto get Winnie the Pooh in a Christmasy
outfit.
That's right.
So there.
It's likely Halloween in a waythat there's some characters that
dress up you.
You can see differentcharacters that you don't see.
Like, for example, they weretalking at Jollywood Knights that
(20:17):
you can see some characterslike from the Three Caballeros that
you don't get to see on aregular basis that.
That are brought out for oneof the festivals that they have in
one of the corners ofHollywood Studios.
Stitch.
Santa Stitch is one of themore popular places to go in Jollywood
Nights.
We talked about Jack andSally, but there are other, like,
other Santa Clausy sort ofChristmassy outfits that some of
(20:41):
these characters will wear.
And it's a unique opportunityto get a photo.
Mickey Mouse in particular.
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, sometimes I havepeople that'll say to me, oh, well,
you know, what if.
What if I want to be there onChristmas Day?
Surely it's not crowded onChristmas Day.
And no, it definitely iscrowded because the week between
Christmas Day and New Year'sDay is the busiest week of the year.
(21:03):
And that counts for alltravel, but especially for Disney
travel.
So keep that in mind.
You're not going to go downthere and think that everybody else
is at home opening theirpresents because there's a whole
lot of people that are there.
There is only a few timesduring the year where you will see
park is at full capacity andChristmas Day is one of them.
Is one of them.
2018, my family.
(21:25):
Our family went down to visitmy parents in Ocala, and they surprised
us with Disney for Christmas Eve.
Oh, how cool.
The goal was to be in the parkafter midnight just to say you were
there at Christmas.
And we did it.
We made it.
We almost.
Because I had a lot of peoplein my family that had enough and
wanted to go home, but I said,can we just.
Just swear 1201, we'll walkout of the park.
(21:47):
You know, there's also some.
Some dining locations that aresuper popular for if you're there
on Thanksgiving Day or ifyou're there on Christmas Day.
If you are going to be thereduring this time, make sure that
you are online 60 daysbeforehand to get things like Liberty
Tree Tavern.
That's going to have atraditional Thanksgiving meal that
can also be a really greatChristmas meal.
(22:07):
There's other places like WhisCanyon Cafe over at Wilderness Lodge,
that's super popular forChristmas or Thanksgiving dinner.
So just keep that in mind, too.
If you are there on the actualholiday, you can still have a traditional
meal.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
That trip we went that time wewent in Christmas Eve.
(22:28):
I still get grief for thisbecause, like, I'm.
I'm the kind of guy that'slike, I don't need a map.
I am the map kind of person.
And so.
And here's the thing.
It's like my favorite thing todo is when people go, hey, how do
you get to, like, JungleCruise from here?
And I'm always like, would youlike the shortest route or would
you like to go through?
And they go, can you just getme there?
I know you've got.
(22:49):
Oh, God.
You know, like.
But we were at HollywoodStudios and we wanted to get to Epcot.
And this was prior to the Skyliner.
Yeah.
And so we were gonna go.
We go wait for the bus.
But then I said, no, we couldactually walk.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
No, don't do this.
Do not do this.
I said, well, there's a walk.
You can walk down here andit'll take to the back end of Epcot.
(23:11):
And everyone went, oh, really?
How far is the walk?
Oh, it's not that long now.
It's very, very long.
It's very long.
Don't do it.
It was my first time doing it.
I thought 30 minutes of cardiofor the day was.
Everybody got in.
Epcot was ready to, like, giveme hell for this.
They're like, what is wrongwith you?
And I still hear about it tothis day whenever our family gathers.
(23:33):
Oh, the time.
Anthony took us from HollywoodStudios to Epcot and we walked, like,
10 miles, which wasn't thatlong, but it was long enough.
So I took that walk one timetoo, because I decided that that
would be a good walk for ourchildren to try to fall asleep in
their stroller.
Good for you.
But we.
So we were just going fromHollywood Studios back to Yacht Club.
(23:54):
We were staying at Yacht Club,which is basically walking from Hollywood
Studios to Epcot.
And I remember I was.
I was just so hopeful thatthey were going to take a nap, and
neither one of them fellasleep in the stroller.
And then me and Chris are justhuffing and puffing all the way from
Hollywood Studio.
And so it was.
It was horrible.
I won't ever do it again.
Don't do it.
The Skyliner works great.
That's probably why they putit in there.
(24:14):
For idiots like me whothought, oh, it's.
I don't know.
It's like, I don't know.
Take us 10 minutes.
10 minutes.
We'll walk up there.
By the time we got toBoardwalk, I think my father was
like, where are we?
What can we stop here?
What are we doing?
And I go, oh, it's right over there.
And I realized.
I kind of realized halfwaythrough, really, that I had made
a huge mistake.
And I was like, well, we can't.
Go back and you're stuck.
I was like, we're stuck.
(24:35):
We might as well complete it.
So that was our Christmas Eve tradition.
All right, so again, enjoy the holidays.
Any other tips or anything youwant to mention from the Christmas
Disney World perspective?
Yeah, I think we pretty muchcovered it.
I will say I'm still bookingtrips, but for Christmas, between
Thanksgiving and Christmas,there's still availability.
There's still availability ata discount.
(24:56):
Yeah.
So if you think you want to gojust for a quick weekend, take the
kids down, or for a full week,just give us an email, give us a
call, we can get you scheduled.
That's lauren all the magictravel.com.
hit me up Tony at Travel withTony D.
We'd love to help you on yourDisney trip and we can guide you
through.
If you've never been downthere for Christmas and you're a
little worried about thenavigation of the whole thing, we
(25:16):
definitely, definitely willgive you all the information that
you need.
So again, it's starting now.
They've changed it over.
There's a Christmassy feelinggoing on at the Magic Kingdom and
all the parks.
So if you're heading downthere in the next couple of weeks,
all the way through to the endof the year, really, really enjoy
the holiday season.
All right, that's going to doit for this edition of Wands and
Wishes.
We'll be back next week.
Please subscribe to the podcast.
(25:37):
Leave us.
A five star review certainlyhelps us out with all of the algorithms
and whatnot.
And we will see you next weekon the Wands and Wishes podcast.
It's another episode of theWands and Wishes podcast.
Thank you for joining us as weget you prepared for your Disney
vacation.
And Lauren Mallard, of all themagic travel, I have to say I think
this is one of my favorite episodes.
I kind of been waiting to dothis episode on the Christmas transformation
of the Disney parks and whatpeople can expect, whether they're
going to one of the partiesthat are in the park or whether they're
(00:26):
just going to the parks ingeneral and experiencing the holidays.
Because it is remarkable howquickly the parks turn around from
Halloween and fall to gettingright into the Christmas spirit magically
overnight.
That's right.
I did see a documentary onthis and it's, it's fun because I
tend to think of decoratinglike in my house, which is like utter
chaos.
Like when my wife, she's like,put that over there.
(00:48):
No, let's put that over here.
No, let's move this.
No, let's take that down.
No, put that back up.
And then I think and I watchedthis documentary about how they transfer
the parks.
It's like an army of peopleand they know exactly what to do.
They're like, you're Susan andyou're going to take down wreath
1, 2, 5, 7 and 9.
Right.
Billy, you're going to put upthis, this, this and this.
And then we're going to moveover here and you're going to do
(01:10):
this, this, this and this.
And it's just like a wellorchestrated machine.
I would love to sit on a benchin the Magic Kingdom that night and
just have a coffee and justsit there all night long and just
watch it happen.
Right.
You have to think that they'recounting the minutes.
Oh yeah.
What they've got untildaylight when guests are going to
(01:31):
start arriving again.
And it's got to be completely transformed.
Like if we're starting at thistime, you better be at Station 2
at this time ready to do thesecond round of what we're doing.
Otherwise we, we won't make iton time.
Yeah, there was one year I wasthere and they had the November 1st,
not so scary Halloween party.
And we went to that one and itwas interesting because we went the
(01:52):
Halloween party on November1st and then we went back to Magic
Kingdom on November 2nd and itreally is.
That's great.
It's Christmas the next morning.
That's crazy great.
What is what I would totallyurge people to do that experience.
If you can do it.
Super cool.
If you be there the Halloweenweek where you can find a way to
see Both things in one stay.
(02:12):
It's like the epitome ofgetting the most bang for your buck.
Completely.
Completely.
I will stick by what I saidduring our Halloween episode of the
two parties.
I like the not so scary betterand I think a lot of it is.
What I said in that podcastwas I think Disney has the IP to
pull off Halloween look.
It's cute that Winnie the Poohand Mickey Mouse are in Santa outfits.
(02:34):
Anybody with IP can do that.
Right.
But Disney has the villainaspect that can make Halloween a
lot different and a lot better.
But nevertheless, theirHalloween party is very, very festive.
So we're going to talk about that.
We're going to talk aboutJollywood Nights that goes on at
Hollywood Studios, otherthings that you can do around the
resort without going to parks for.
For Christmas.
So the very holiday edition ofthe Wands and Wishes podcast.
(02:57):
Yeah.
So let's start with the parksin general.
Right.
Like we talked about earlier,the transformations are going to
happen very quickly.
And they're already up now asthey're already in the party mode
and the Halloween.
And up from Halloween into Christmas.
But it, it is one of the bestthings that they do in getting people
prepared for the holidays isgiving you that nostalgic sort of
feel of the Christmas timeswith decorations in every single
(03:20):
one of the parks.
Yeah.
And you'll notice that everyone of the parks has a.
And it has a different, evengoing down to the background loops
of the music that you'rehearing in the parks, you're going
to have something at MagicKingdom that's going to feel like
Magic Kingdom.
And then over at HollywoodStudios, you're going to have a little
more retro vibe to that.
So all the decorations inHollywood Studios, they have that
(03:40):
retro, bigger colored bulbs.
And then the music is going tofeel a little more retro.
So you're going to see thatchange from park to park.
So you're never getting thesame thing no matter what park you're
in.
And they've got some ridesthat have changed that will change
for the holidays.
Jungle Cruise change changes.
There's a Christmas overlay atSpace Mountain.
So there is some otherelements other than we just stuck
(04:02):
a tree up at the beginning andsome festival lights and some festival
reads.
They really are totally inintegrating the holiday into almost
every aspect of the park.
Yes.
And it really, truly is.
It's just.
It feels so different to bethere at Christmas time because it
really is so magical.
And when you're stepping inand you're seeing all the different
(04:24):
decorations and Even myself,who I don't even call myself a Christmas
fanatic.
But when I'm at Disney World,it immediately just becomes more
festive.
Yeah.
So there's a couple of nightsthat the Mickey's not so not from
not so Scary going into the holiday.
The, the very specialChristmas party that they have.
And they're, they're, they'resimilar in tips and as we get into
(04:45):
both of those, if you rememberthe Halloween edition, we gave you
tips on what to do when youget there, what's popular, how to
sort of navigate that.
Some of the tips from Mickey'snot so Scary go into the Christmas
party.
Absolutely.
Very paralleled because theyhave a lot of the same events at
each party.
So you're going to have aheadlining fireworks show, you're
going to have the paradethat's not to miss at Mickey's, not,
(05:05):
I'm sorry, a very merryChristmas party that's not to miss.
You're going to have a stageshow, you're going to have those
unique character meet and greets.
So all those tips that we gaveyou at Halloween are going to really
work well if you're visitingthe Christmas party too.
The number one tip is getthere on early.
You can get there at 4 o'clockif you have just a ticket for that
event.
Event.
If you're already in the themepark, that's fine, you're good.
(05:28):
But if you are going to justthis event specifically, you can
get in at 4 o'clock.
I always tell people get thereat 3 and just wait in the line.
Just chill out.
You can you, you'll be, youknow, just have something to do while
you wait because the crowds doreally get big as, as they get closer
to let you into this party andthey'll navigate you around the back
end of Main street to sort ofintegrate yourself into the park
(05:50):
while they're getting peopleout of the park before the party
actually starts at seven.
So there's this three hourbuffer where the park is going to
be really loaded with peoplefrom the regular park guests to the
people that are arriving forthe party.
But you do get those threehours as part of your party ticket.
Right.
And another thing when you'rementioning crowds here is I think
sometimes people have themisconception that if they have a
(06:12):
party ticket it's going tofeel empty.
Right.
It is not going to besomething like the after hours events
that really do feel empty orsome of those types of events that
are really more of anexclusive, exclusive type of an event.
The Christmas Party and theHalloween party used to feel more
so that way.
But now I feel that they areselling more tickets and really it's
(06:33):
just you're paying a premiumfor some of the offerings that they're
giving you at this party.
That's a really good pointbecause a lot of times, and we noticed
this on our last trip when wewent to the not so scary Halloween
party was that there, thereare times where Disney is struggling
just to fill the park duringthe day.
But they're not struggling tosell these.
No, absolutely not.
(06:54):
Selling these out.
So you can go like we didwhere we went for four days and we
can go to Animal Kingdom andfeel like we had the park to ourselves
or Hollywood Studios and feellike it's kind of dead.
But then we got to the partyand then we know, oh, this is a sold
out event.
And it's feeling like a soldout event.
So I tell people a lot oftimes this is not the way to experience
(07:14):
Disney World.
This is, this is to experiencewhat they're offering special to
Disney.
The additional offerings atthat party are what's going to be
most important and for thevalue of what you're paying for.
For that ticket.
Right?
Exact.
And again, ride the rides.
It's great.
A lot of them will have alittle bit less time than a busy,
busy Saturday in the summertime.
(07:34):
Sure.
But really enjoy the shows,enjoy the meet and greets, enjoy
the things that you don'tnormally get to do.
Because that's what makesthese parties and these two in particular,
Halloween and Christmas, veryunique and very special.
Definitely.
And also you can get cookies,hot chocolate, cider, eggnog.
That's right.
Different locations like youcan when you do the Halloween trick
(07:54):
or treating.
That's right.
So instead of trick ortreating, there's a different cookie
at each station that's youdon't have to get all of them or
you don't have to eat all ofevery one of them, but you can certainly
try each one of them and seewhat you like and what you don't
like and that is included,those cookies are included.
There are additional treatslike what we talked about with the
Halloween party that you canpay extra for.
So if you see something that'soffered that is not one of these
(08:18):
included cookies, you cancertainly pay for that too.
We went last year to theChristmas party and there's a story
reason behind it because wewent in 2016 and my wife Lori got
very sick and she wasn't sickup until the, like towards the end
of the Night.
So we went to.
We were hanging around theparks, and then we went over there
for the party, and she startednot feeling well.
(08:40):
And this was eight years ago.
It was actually electionnight, which was really wild.
Oh, no.
Yeah, it was.
It was election night.
And, you know, when you go toDisney World, you sort of escape
the real world.
Yes.
But everyone was, like, ontheir phone and, like, on Twitter,
and then you could hear peopletalking about who won Pennsylvania
and what was going on.
So it was election night andshe just felt miserable.
She said, I'm out.
She goes, take the kids on the rides.
(09:01):
I want to sit here.
I don't want to go anywhere.
She didn't want to eat any cookies.
She was feeling miserable.
But she was a trooper in that.
Let's get the kids the experience.
I don't want to be a problem.
I don't want to leave early.
Let me just sit here.
So I remember telling her,well, you never really got to feel
this.
Like, you never got to reallyenjoy this.
So we, eventually, we've gotto do this again.
And then last year we went todo it again.
(09:22):
Oh, that's awesome.
So that was.
That was.
That was great.
But this time we didn't havethe kids.
This.
It was just full circle.
Exactly.
So it's full circle.
And again, one of the.
One of the criticisms, but yetit's hard criticism, but yet you
can understand why they do it,is that the party doesn't really
change.
No.
And there's.
There's sort of a two campfeel to this.
(09:43):
Right.
If you're Disney and it'sworking, why change up?
Yeah.
Right.
If you're selling out, whychange thing?
This, this.
The system is simple.
We're having a party.
We've got characters.
You're getting cookie and hot chocolate.
We've got this parade.
You watch the parade, we'vegot the fireworks, got the stage
show.
We're good.
Yeah.
On the other hand, if you goconsistently, you might say, can
(10:04):
we do a different thing?
Is there something else?
But if you're Disney, whyinvest in the choreography of new
things if, again, these thingsare selling out very quickly?
But, you know, and it bringsmy mind to think, you know, you talk
about how every party is soldout, which, you know, it very well
does sell out every year.
And I think to myself, from amarketing standpoint, they could
(10:25):
almost offer this more nightsin the holiday season and pay and
charge more for it.
So if they're having moreparties but offering less tickets
but still charging more, thentheir bottom line is going to be
increased.
Yeah, that's right.
And so why not do that?
Make it feel more exclusive tothe guests.
(10:46):
But then you're still makingmore money off of it.
And then they can keep thingsthe same for some.
Or they could offer like atotally different variation on some
nights and then the classicone on another night.
Right, exactly.
And again, two parades.
This not to Miss Once Upon aChristmas Time parade.
I always tell people to try towatch the second one if weather permitting.
If you realize you're having anight where it's not going to rain,
(11:07):
try to get the second one.
It's an easier viewing.
But also, we talked about thison Halloween, Jack and Sally, they're
there at Christmas time.
Get in line for this.
Probably use your time that inthe very beginning to do this.
It may not be around late whenwe told this.
At Halloween, sometimesthey're gone and you'd think, like,
I'll catch it at 10:30 andthey're not there.
No.
Catch the characters early.
(11:28):
If you're.
If you're really looking for acharacter that you want to meet,
that's another one.
Just like with Halloween, yougot to do it early.
Get that knocked off yourlist, scratch it off and then move
on to the next thing.
And again, rides are available.
Some again have the overlaysand whatnot.
So it's.
It's again similar to what wewere talking about with Halloween.
You're getting a specialevent, you're getting a unique event
(11:49):
and manage it the way you wantto manage it.
If you love the rides and wantto do the rides, great.
If you're really in it for theshows, do it that way.
I always say you can do therides any day.
You can't do this party at anyother time.
So I always tell people, joythe party for what the party offers
and the special treats.
There is a second party that'sin its second season and that's the
Jollywood Nights event atHollywood Studios.
(12:11):
Now, I haven't done this yet.
I didn't do it last year, so I am.
I'm sort of new to it.
But I do remember it was notwell reviewed.
It really wasn't.
And I'm really, honestly alittle surprised that they brought
it back and also that theybrought it back in almost the same
form as last year, it seemslike from what I'm reading online.
But if you're not familiarwith what Jollywood Nights is, this
(12:32):
is over at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
And it really is more adultfocused, which I think is a really
good thing on Disney's.
I think so too.
Yeah.
I think that's pretty smartbecause they, they put it in the
right place.
I think Hollywood Studios isthe perfect park for this.
But I also wonder, you know,what, what, what market are we trying
(12:54):
to reach other than.
I'm not sure that it, that itreally encompasses the typical Disney
adult.
It's more glitz and glamour and.
Yeah.
You know, but it's.
I think it's a good concept.
I'm anxious to see how it doesin its second year compared to the
first.
Yeah, exactly.
Because the first one from.
People who reviewed it said itwas all over the place.
(13:14):
They didn't feel there was acohesion of the theme.
There was like, well, there'sa dance party over here and there's
kind of a show over here, andI don't really get a flow.
Right.
But it's, It's a little unfairto compare to something that even
though it's the same companythat has, I mean, the not so scary
and the very Merry Christmasparties have had years of development,
had years of processing complaints.
(13:36):
Oh, that didn't quite work.
Oh, maybe we should tightenthis up.
Maybe we should add more trickor treat lines.
Maybe we should add morecookie lines.
Yeah.
Like little things like that.
In the very beginning ofthese, they went through.
And even though it's the samecompany, you think you'd learn from
the mistakes, but you got toknow what mistakes you're making.
That's right.
In order to change them.
And I think they.
A lot of people just didn'tfeel like it was.
(13:56):
There was a unifying tie toeverything that they were doing.
Yeah, but I think you hit onsomething interesting because we,
my wife and I went to the.
An after hours event like twoyears ago, and I remember thinking
to myself as a Disney adult,yeah, this is a.
This is the better thing.
I wouldn't take a young childto an after hours event.
(14:17):
It's way too late.
Yeah, it's way too late.
But if you are somebody thatsays, I don't like these crowds,
I don't like these strollers,I just want to.
I go to the way to do it.
That's.
That is a way to really enjoythe park and feel like you have it
to yourself.
One of the things I heardabout Jollywood Nights was for whatever
reason, and maybe it justwasn't, people were making the choice
to do the Magic Kingdom park was.
(14:38):
It wasn't as busy as the other parks.
And if they.
I don't know if it's becausethey, you know, they're keeping it.
Let's try to sure.
Tighten it up.
See how it does.
See how it does.
But if you are, if you arechoosing between the two, and you've
kind of done the MagicKingdom, and I always recommend that.
Yeah.
Try Jollywood Nights, ifyou're an adult, to try to get a
little bit less of a crowd, alittle bit less of an atmosphere
(15:00):
that might work for you, ifindeed they've worked out some of
the bugs.
Yeah.
And if you're paying the sameamount for the ticket either way
and you get less crowds out ofit, then it's a win, win situation.
Yeah.
And I heard if you like theMuppets, there's a lot of Muppet
things.
I've heard that too.
And I really.
I would love to see morefootage of the whole party this year.
I wish I could get down forit, but that's not going to happen.
But.
But I really do want to see more.
(15:22):
I would love to see this growbecause I do think that there is,
there is space in every parkfor there to be something unique
to that park.
And I know we're going to talkabout Epcot next.
There's.
There's got to be somethingfor every park to be able to differentiate
in the holiday season.
Yeah.
And again, it's.
It.
I know it's a difficult timebecause you're talking about families
that are trying to figure outif I'm going to go to Disney and
(15:43):
I'm going to do one experienceat Christmas, if I'm doing one of
these after hours things,which one am I doing?
It would be hard to chooseJollywood Nights over, you know,
the very special Christmasparty, because it's.
That's the iconic one that'sgoing to fill you with a little bit
more nostalgia.
You're going to get the Snope,you know, on top of you, you know,
all that.
All that.
(16:03):
But let's go to Epcot center,because I think this is another one
that is, if you're an adultand really want to experience a different
way to look at the holidays.
Yeah, this is, this is one ofthe better ones, with festivities
from around the world.
Yeah, that's right.
So really, at Epcot, there's acouple different things that we can
focus on.
So you're going to be able togo through the World Showcase and
(16:25):
really experience what thesecountries, how they view Christmas
and how they view the holidaysand what, what they celebrate and
just be able to immerseyourself in that.
But, but aside from that alsoyou can experience different narrators
for the candlelightprocessional that happens every,
every few nights of the weekin the holiday season.
(16:47):
And they get big names for this.
There are narrators like NeilPatrick Harris and John Stamos and
Josh Gad, who's the voice of Olaf.
So this is a huge draw andsomething that if you take your family
to something like this and gettickets to this, then it's really
going to be a memory that theykeep for a long time because it is
(17:08):
such a spectacle to see.
Yeah, exactly.
And then there's differentkind of foods and whatnot.
It's there.
There is a whole different wayof doing it.
Different booths.
So again, they're not tryingto replicate the sim.
A similar thing.
In each, each one of theseparks, there is a distinct way they
want to celebrate Christmas.
And I don't want to say target audience.
It's kind of the wrong way to.
(17:28):
Do it to the personality ofthat park.
Right.
And so there's really just somuch to see and enjoy at Christmas
at Disney.
And there's a very whimsicallike way that the, the Christmas
party at Magic Kingdom is.
And then there's a little bitmore educational feel at Epcot.
Yeah.
And then there might be alittle bit more of an adult feel
at, at Hollywood Studios.
(17:49):
Right now there are some extrapackages that you can get if you
want to do the dessert partyon the terrace at Tomorrowland, watch
the fireworks, things like that.
They have those kind of thingsthat are available to you that are
even more than the ticket thatyou're, that you're paying for.
So there's a lot of differentways to enjoy these parks.
But let's say you are thereand you have a free day of non parks
and you want to enjoyChristmas around the resort without
(18:12):
having to buy an extra ticketto one of them.
You absolutely should do thisbecause this can take an entire day
if you hit all of the, of thethings that each resort has to offer.
Because especially in thedeluxe resorts, you're going to find
so many unique things.
Like at the Beach Club, theyhave a giant carousel that's Christmas
(18:33):
themed in the lobby.
At the Grand Floridian, mosteverybody knows about the life size
gym gingerbread house that'smade of real gingerbread.
And once it's constructed,they sell pieces of that gingerbread
straight from that gingerbreadhouse, which my kids decided they
wanted a piece of gingerbreadone year and they had no idea.
But they hate gingerbread.
(18:54):
Yeah.
And so I do too.
So there we are with the gingerbread.
And it wasn't.
They didn't like it, so.
But it's really neat to go seeit and see the trees in these places.
My favorite resort to visit atChristmas time is the Wilderness
Lodge, Right?
Yeah.
Very, very true.
It has this.
Their lob is so grand.
It's seven stories and thattree spans from the ground all the
(19:16):
way to the top.
And it is just absolutelygorgeous to see.
It is a underrated thing toresort hop.
It really is.
It really is.
A lot of people don't do it,but people who do do it, when they
have a free afternoon andthey're not dedicated any time to
whatever park they wanted togo to, it is a remarkable experience
to see how the decorations ineach resort and.
(19:36):
And how they put together the festivities.
Yeah.
And when you talk about, like,the personalities of the parks being
displayed with all thedifferent decorations in the parks,
the same can be said for the resorts.
So whatever the theming is ofeach resort, whether that's a value
moderate or deluxe resort,you're going to find their Christmas
decorations to match thetheming of the resort, which is really
cool.
(19:56):
We were talking earlier aboutcharacters and there is an opportunity
to get characters like, look,you might say already got Winnie
the Pooh, but now is a chanceto get Winnie the Pooh in a Christmasy
outfit.
That's right.
So there.
It's likely Halloween in a waythat there's some characters that
dress up you.
You can see differentcharacters that you don't see.
Like, for example, they weretalking at Jollywood Knights that
(20:17):
you can see some characterslike from the Three Caballeros that
you don't get to see on aregular basis that.
That are brought out for oneof the festivals that they have in
one of the corners ofHollywood Studios.
Stitch.
Santa Stitch is one of themore popular places to go in Jollywood
Nights.
We talked about Jack andSally, but there are other, like,
other Santa Clausy sort ofChristmassy outfits that some of
(20:41):
these characters will wear.
And it's a unique opportunityto get a photo.
Mickey Mouse in particular.
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, sometimes I havepeople that'll say to me, oh, well,
you know, what if.
What if I want to be there onChristmas Day?
Surely it's not crowded onChristmas Day.
And no, it definitely iscrowded because the week between
Christmas Day and New Year'sDay is the busiest week of the year.
(21:03):
And that counts for alltravel, but especially for Disney
travel.
So keep that in mind.
You're not going to go downthere and think that everybody else
is at home opening theirpresents because there's a whole
lot of people that are there.
There is only a few timesduring the year where you will see
park is at full capacity andChristmas Day is one of them.
Is one of them.
2018, my family.
(21:25):
Our family went down to visitmy parents in Ocala, and they surprised
us with Disney for Christmas Eve.
Oh, how cool.
The goal was to be in the parkafter midnight just to say you were
there at Christmas.
And we did it.
We made it.
We almost.
Because I had a lot of peoplein my family that had enough and
wanted to go home, but I said,can we just.
Just swear 1201, we'll walkout of the park.
(21:47):
You know, there's also some.
Some dining locations that aresuper popular for if you're there
on Thanksgiving Day or ifyou're there on Christmas Day.
If you are going to be thereduring this time, make sure that
you are online 60 daysbeforehand to get things like Liberty
Tree Tavern.
That's going to have atraditional Thanksgiving meal that
can also be a really greatChristmas meal.
(22:07):
There's other places like WhisCanyon Cafe over at Wilderness Lodge,
that's super popular forChristmas or Thanksgiving dinner.
So just keep that in mind, too.
If you are there on the actualholiday, you can still have a traditional
meal.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
That trip we went that time wewent in Christmas Eve.
(22:28):
I still get grief for thisbecause, like, I'm.
I'm the kind of guy that'slike, I don't need a map.
I am the map kind of person.
And so.
And here's the thing.
It's like my favorite thing todo is when people go, hey, how do
you get to, like, JungleCruise from here?
And I'm always like, would youlike the shortest route or would
you like to go through?
And they go, can you just getme there?
I know you've got.
(22:49):
Oh, God.
You know, like.
But we were at HollywoodStudios and we wanted to get to Epcot.
And this was prior to the Skyliner.
Yeah.
And so we were gonna go.
We go wait for the bus.
But then I said, no, we couldactually walk.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
No, don't do this.
Do not do this.
I said, well, there's a walk.
You can walk down here andit'll take to the back end of Epcot.
(23:11):
And everyone went, oh, really?
How far is the walk?
Oh, it's not that long now.
It's very, very long.
It's very long.
Don't do it.
It was my first time doing it.
I thought 30 minutes of cardiofor the day was.
Everybody got in.
Epcot was ready to, like, giveme hell for this.
They're like, what is wrongwith you?
And I still hear about it tothis day whenever our family gathers.
(23:33):
Oh, the time.
Anthony took us from HollywoodStudios to Epcot and we walked, like,
10 miles, which wasn't thatlong, but it was long enough.
So I took that walk one timetoo, because I decided that that
would be a good walk for ourchildren to try to fall asleep in
their stroller.
Good for you.
But we.
So we were just going fromHollywood Studios back to Yacht Club.
(23:54):
We were staying at Yacht Club,which is basically walking from Hollywood
Studios to Epcot.
And I remember I was.
I was just so hopeful thatthey were going to take a nap, and
neither one of them fellasleep in the stroller.
And then me and Chris are justhuffing and puffing all the way from
Hollywood Studio.
And so it was.
It was horrible.
I won't ever do it again.
Don't do it.
The Skyliner works great.
That's probably why they putit in there.
(24:14):
For idiots like me whothought, oh, it's.
I don't know.
It's like, I don't know.
Take us 10 minutes.
10 minutes.
We'll walk up there.
By the time we got toBoardwalk, I think my father was
like, where are we?
What can we stop here?
What are we doing?
And I go, oh, it's right over there.
And I realized.
I kind of realized halfwaythrough, really, that I had made
a huge mistake.
And I was like, well, we can't.
Go back and you're stuck.
I was like, we're stuck.
(24:35):
We might as well complete it.
So that was our Christmas Eve tradition.
All right, so again, enjoy the holidays.
Any other tips or anything youwant to mention from the Christmas
Disney World perspective?
Yeah, I think we pretty muchcovered it.
I will say I'm still bookingtrips, but for Christmas, between
Thanksgiving and Christmas,there's still availability.
There's still availability ata discount.
(24:56):
Yeah.
So if you think you want to gojust for a quick weekend, take the
kids down, or for a full week,just give us an email, give us a
call, we can get you scheduled.
That's lauren all the magictravel.com.
hit me up Tony at Travel withTony D.
We'd love to help you on yourDisney trip and we can guide you
through.
If you've never been downthere for Christmas and you're a
little worried about thenavigation of the whole thing, we
(25:16):
definitely, definitely willgive you all the information that
you need.
So again, it's starting now.
They've changed it over.
There's a Christmassy feelinggoing on at the Magic Kingdom and
all the parks.
So if you're heading downthere in the next couple of weeks,
all the way through to the endof the year, really, really enjoy
the holiday season.
All right, that's going to doit for this edition of Wands and
Wishes.
We'll be back next week.
Please subscribe to the podcast.
(25:37):
Leave us.
A five star review certainlyhelps us out with all of the algorithms
and whatnot.
And we will see you next weekon the Wands and Wishes podcast.
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